Netflix Admits It’s Still Got A Lot Of Kissing Up To Do, Reassures Customers It Won’t Sell Ads

Netflix is still working hard to make up for failing its customers in the somewhat recent past (Qwikster ring a bell, anyone?), resulting in the wonderful olive branch of original content like the upcoming return of Arrested Development. But there’s more to be done, the company’s financial chief said today, which is why Netflix won’t be selling ads for its streaming site.

Back during that whole hilarious attempt at rebranding in 2011, which involved hiking prices, the company said it would take about three years to regain customers’ trust.

Netflix executive David Wells spoke at the JP Morgan tech conference today to that end, reports CNET, noting that while there are improvements in things like customers’ “likelihood to recommend” responses, “we still feel like there’s more recover to be had.”

“We’re still mindful that any negative pricing things could set that fire off again,” Wells said.

And while everyone is assuming there’s a lot of money to be had in the Bluth family banana stand otherwise known as Arrested Development, as well as the well-received original miniseries House of Cards, even Wells isn’t sure how much that content will help boost subscribers, saying that the company expects it “will take multiple [original content] titles for there to be a real impact on net additions.”

One thing Netflix is willing to try is owning more pieces of a particular show, like the online rights and DVDs, instead of just one piece. For example, only Netflix can stream House of Cards, while Amazon is promoting the DVD for sale.

Netflix isn’t going to experiment with streaming live content like sports and concerts, however, and Wells has nixed the possibility of selling ads for the U.S. site. Whew.

“We did experiment with [ads] awhile ago in the past,” he said. “We felt like it was not conducive to the brand we have today.”